A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

Oneness Pentecostal Organizations
initial sign of speaking with other tongues as the
Spirit gives utterance.
We shall endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit
until we all come into the unity of the faith, at the same
time admonishing all brethren that they shall not contend
for their different views to the disunity of the body.
The first paragraph relies on Acts 2:38. We have
already discussed antecedents for the term “full salvation”
and for the use of Acts 2:38 as a paradigm.
The second paragraph is based on Ephesians 4:3, 13.
Many early Pentecostals made a similar appeal to maintain
“the unity of the Spirit until we all come into the unity
of the faith.” In 1913 this phrase appeared in the writings
of Frank Ewart, D. W. Kerr, and Andrew Urshan, and on
the masthead of The Christian Evangel (J. R. Flower’s
paper that would later become an official organ of the
Assemblies of God). 143 In 1914, the statement appeared in
the original constitution of the Assemblies of God, and in
1919 it appeared in the original constitution of the
Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. 144
In recent years, a number of trinitarian theologians
have identified Acts 2:38 as the paradigm for New
Testament salvation, including Frederick Bruner
(Evangelical), James Dunn (Evangelical), Leighton Ford
(Evangelical), David Pawson (Charismatic), and Kilian
McDonnell and George Montague (Catholic Charismatics).
145 Gordon Fee, an Assemblies of God theologian,
has similarly argued that Spirit baptism is not a distinct
experience subsequent to the new birth. 146 Typically, however,
they do not teach that tongues is the initial evidence
of the Spirit baptism, or else they offer some exceptions.
121